The controversy over whether the retrovirus XMRV is linked to chronic fatigue syndrome has still not been resolved, but the American Red Cross has just weighed in. The organization said today that as a result of concerns over XMRV, it is barring people with a diagnosis of CFS from donating blood.

In a press release, the Red Cross said that there isnt enough data yet to determine for sure that XMRV is transmitted through blood transfusions or that it causes diseases. But “in the interest of patient and donor safety,” the organization said it was indefinitely barring blood donations from people with CFS.

The Health Blog wasnt able to reach the Red Cross for comment, but its likely that a number of recent events prompted todays announcement. In June, a task force set up by the AABB, an organization whose members collect most of the blood in the U.S. and to which the Red Cross belongs, urged members to discourage people with CFS from donating blood. More recently, a group of researchers at the FDA, NIH, and Harvard Medical School published a paper that linked a family of viruses to which XMRV belongs to CFS.

A federally funded task force has been studying whether XMRV poses a threat to the nations blood supply since last year, when a paper in Science first raised the possibility that XMRV was not only linked to CFS but was also found in the blood of healthy people.

Later this month, the task force is expected to present a report on its work to an FDA committee that looks at blood safety issues. The FDA is in charge of regulating the blood supply but yet hasnt changed its recommendations on donations from people with CFS.

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